Melisende and Fulk, Part 3

The King and Queen of Jerusalem were very involved in supporting and promoting the Christian religion. Queen Melisende contributed to many convents, for nuance, starting with the Convent of Sant Anne where her sister Ioveta was.

Fulk and Melisende convinced the Patriarch of Jerusalem to give them jurisdiction over Bethany near Jerusalem so that they could build a monastery or convent. Melisende in 1138 would start building an abbey. The Convent of Saint Lazarus took six years to build, and in 1144 it was granted the status of an abbey by Pope Celestine II. An experienced abbess was installed, with the understanding that the young Ioveta would succeed her, which she did in short order. Fulk's daughter from his first marriage, Sibylla of Anjou, became a nun there during a pilgrimage with her husband, and never returned to Europe.

There were other gifts to religious institutions. The Temple of the Lord (now called the Dome of the Rock) was given lands from which to draw revenue. Melisende gave grants to the Hospitallers, to the leper hospital of the Order of Lazarus (not connected to Ioveta's abbey), and to the Premonstratensians and their Church of Saint Samuel.

Melisende's mother, Morphia of Melitene, was buried in the Abbey of Saint Mary of the Valley of Jehosaphat, a Benedictine abbey founded by Godfrey of Bouillon in the eastern part of the Old City of Jerusalem. This burial started a tradition of the queens of Jerusalem being buried apart from their husbands. Melisende herself would also be buried there. (The illustration is part of the recovered artwork from the abbey, now in a museum in Jerusalem.)

She also supported the Syriac Orthodox Church. When a Frankish knight tried to claim some land possessed by the Syriac Church, Fulk supported the knight. Melisende expressed her displeasure at this, and Fulk agreed that no decision would be final until the case was debated in Melisende's presence. Once that happened, the land stayed in Syriac hands.

On 7 November 1143, the court was at Acre, enjoying a picnic. During a ride, Fulk decided to chase a hare. His horse threw him, and Fulk was knocked unconscious. He was carried back to Acre where he died on the 10th. That Christmas, Melisende went through a second coronation, this time including her son Baldwin III, who was 13 years old. Although Baldwin tried to assert himself, Melisende had complete control over the government now. Let's find out what that was like, starting tomorrow.